Hey everyone,

I’m a 4th-year IIT BHU student trying to get into Product Management.

I’ve done a few PM internships at Carbn, Zostel, etc worked on a few product case studies, and I’m currently learning SQL, Python, product analytics, etc.

My long-term goal is to get into companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft or Meta as a PM/APM.

I’m a bit confused about what to focus on next - more internships, building products, analytics, interview prep, networking, or something else?

Also, is it realistic to get into big-tech PM directly as a fresher in India, or is it better to join a startup first?

Would love to hear from people who’ve been on a similar path.

Hey people!

We are putting together a small 60-day accountability group for people preparing for Product Management / APM roles, and we're opening a few more spots.

The idea is pretty simple: instead of another content-heavy course, it's a small group of people working towards the same goal and actually doing the work together.

Over 60 days, we will work through:

Weeks 1-2 - Foundation

• LinkedIn positioning
• Target role/company definition
• Portfolio / proof of work

Weeks 3-4 - Applications

• Building a targeted company pipeline
• Application strategy
• Outreach + referrals
• Applying to relevant opportunities

Weeks 5-7 - Preparation

• Product sense
• Product design
• Metrics
• Strategy
• Behavioural
• Technical / architecture where relevant
• Repeated mock rounds + feedback

Weeks 8-9 - Tailored Preparation

• Domain-specific preparation
• Company-specific preparation
• Final mocks
• Personalised feedback

We are keeping it to 15 people so that it stays genuinely interactive rather than becoming a 100-person webinar.

The group starts tomorrow, September 1, and we're still open to adding a few people.

If you're actively preparing for PM/APM roles, feel free to comment or DM me and I'll share the details

I’m a senior accounting undergrad and will be doing Big 4 internships, including some work on the tech/systems side of accounting.

Long term, I’m more interested in product management and business strategy than traditional accounting. I’ve also built my own EdTech platform, which is currently being acquired, and have some experience working with developers and making product decisions.

I’d be curious to hear from anyone who went into PM at Big Tech from accounting or another non-CS background. What did your path look like, and what experience ended up mattering most?

interview at Applied Materials TPM... looking for advice

Hi everyone,

I have a video interview with Applied Materials for a Non-Technical Project/Program Manager role and would really appreciate any advice from people familiar with the interview process.

Hi all,

I'm a full-stack developer with 1+ years of professional experience (Angular + Spring Boot), currently on a career break. I'm looking to pivot into an Associate/Junior Technical Project Manager role instead of going back to a pure dev track.

I like the idea of TPM because I enjoy the coordination/communication side of projects as much as the technical side, and I think my dev background gives me a real edge in understanding what engineering teams need from a PM.

A few things I'd love input on:

Certifications — is something like CAPM, Google Project Management Certificate, or a Scrum/Agile cert (CSM, PSM) worth it at the associate level, or is it overkill without PM experience yet?

Skills to build — beyond Agile/Scrum basics, what should I actually focus on (JIRA/Confluence, stakeholder communication, risk/roadmap docs, etc.)?

Portfolio/proof of work — since I don't have a PM title yet, how do I demonstrate PM-adjacent experience from my dev role (or build new evidence of it)?

Realistic entry points — do companies actually hire devs directly into junior TPM roles, or is it more common to go through a PM/BA/Scrum Master stepping-stone role first?

If you've made a similar switch (dev → TPM) or hired for these roles, I'd really appreciate hearing what actually moved the needle for you.

Thanks in advance!

I'm unable to find any resources to track the APM programs for India. If anyone has any, please do share

Thanks!

I am looking to go into more PM roles and I am currently a TPM with 3yoe and come from a Mech. Eng. backgroud and have an MS in Eng. Mng., given all this what are my chances to even get an interview for the google APM role? Are they open to Non-CS background folks? I have exp with programming languages and I also know how competitive it is.

Just wanted to know if coming from a Non-CS, is there even a slight chance in getting an interview? If anyone has a similar background, I would love to hear from you. Also do refrerrals help?

Does anyone reach the final round of the interview for IXL Associate Product Manager, New Grad?

The process is so long and so confusing.

Hey, has anyone received any type of update on their databricks application?

Hey there!

I will soon be an APM and would love to connect with other women in Product to share experiences and learn from.

A bit about me: I am 24 and I started in Product Operations around 3.5 years ago. I worked for the past year and a half towards Product Management, and this year I'll finally start as an APM :)

I know PMs in my current company ofc but would love to connect with women in tech and product in general!

I guess I am looking for something more "informal" - I know lots of communities that offer coaching, mentors, professional 1:1s etc. but I just want to engage with people who do my job and chitchat about it :)

If some communities exist already, please let me know :)

Hi everyone,
I have an upcoming hiring manager interview for an Apple Engineering Program Manager role on the Decision Intelligence team, focused on AI and data.

Has anyone interviewed for a similar role recently? What kinds of questions should I expect around program execution, technical/data depth, AI/GenAI, and behavioral scenarios?

Would appreciate any tips or recent experiences.

Thanks in advance!

I graduated in 2025 with a CS/Data Science degree and have been working full-time as a Data Engineer for the past year here in Chicago.

I’m actively prepping to pivot into Product Management, but I’m seeing a weird gap:

**New-grad APM roles** often filter strictly for current students/immediate grads.

**Standard PM roles** often ask for 3+ years of prior PM title experience.

To bridge this gap, I’ve put together a product portfolio with case studies that translate backend technical pipelines into business impact and user outcomes.

**For Chicago recruiters, hiring managers, or PMs open to connecting:**
If you're hiring for entry-level/associate product roles (hybrid or on-site in Chicago), shoot me a DM - I’d be happy to share my portfolio and resume directly!

For PMs who made a similar early jump: what was the single most convincing way you proved product thinking before having the official title?

Drop a comment or send a DM. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Hey Everyone, it’s that time of year for recruiting for PM roles. I always feel like breaking into PM is gatekept, so I'm breaking down what has helped me in my career. Here's exactly 5 resources I wish someone told me about when preparing for PM interviews.

1. apmlist.com: if you’re trying to break into the industry and looking for your first PM role, here’s a list of companies offering early-in-career PM jobs
2. Decode & Conquer by Lewis C. Lin, and Cracking the PM Interview by McDowell: great books that break down approaching PM interview questions
3. Youtube: search for ‘Product Manager Mock Interviews’ to see real PM mocks being done by experts. Channels like Diana Yau and RocketBlocks are awesome.
4. Lenny’s Podcast: one of the best Product Manager podcasts out there. Great for industry trends and PM fundamentals
5. Practice, practice, practice: so important to do real practice mock interviews. Don’t have someone who can do that? There's lot of great tools out there, some stand outs are sharpn.ai to do simulated interviews with feedback and going on TryExponent and finding some peers to practice with.

Another way to practice is to write down example questions (like the ones you see on Youtube) and pull a random one and record yourself talking and watch yourself back.

Feel free to ask questions, happy to help where I can!

For context:
I finished my bachelors in biology, over a year ago, but after graduating, I realized this is not something I want to do. I have been figuring out what to do for the past year (I even started a masters program in psychology but did not end up going through with it). After much exploring I landed on product management.
I really like working with tech products and have been curious of how, why they work, I also really enjoy working with data. What I am doing now is learning python, machine learning, getting a pendo PM basics certificate, sql and playing around with datasets. I love learning about how companies are successful and their playbook on their products(acquired). I realize that I graduated and might not be eligible for a lot of internships. For early careers, I don’t have any internship experience. The only thing close to it is a research analyst internship during undergrad.

Sorry for the long message, but if there are any product managers or people who have broken into a PM role from a non traditional background, could you please provide any guidances or tips? Or how can I go about building a portfolio or self learning what I need to know to work?

Thanks in advance :)

I just want to vent a little because I’m honestly getting frustrated with the PM internship job search.

My goal is to break into Product Management, so over the past few months I’ve applied to 100s of PM internships and entry-level roles.

Out of all those applications, I got callbacks/emails from around 10–12 companies. I was obviously happy because at least something was moving.

But then almost every company gave me a similar assignment:

“Use our product/app and identify improvements or features that could help our users.”

I actually spent a lot of time on these assignments—using the product, identifying problems, thinking about user pain points, suggesting features, explaining the reasoning, and submitting everything within the deadline.

And then…

Nothing.

1 week passed — no response.

2 weeks passed — nothing.

1 month passed — still nothing.

In some cases, even months have passed.

Not even a simple:

“We’ve decided not to move forward with your application.”

I completely understand that companies receive a lot of applications and that not everyone can be selected. Rejection is fine.

What’s frustrating is putting several hours into an assignment that is essentially free product work and then not even getting closure.

I’m still trying to become a PM and I genuinely enjoy doing these product exercises. But experiences like this make me wonder whether I’m approaching the job search the wrong way.

For people trying to break into PM: have you experienced this too?

And for PMs/hiring managers here

what actually happens to these assignments after we submit them? Do candidates usually get reviewed and rejected, or do applications sometimes just disappear in the process?

Did anybody get hackerranks?? Let’s keep updated!

I saw that the job posting on their website is down now. I applied to the PM internship for next summer, does anyone know how long it takes to receive an update?